Alfie Kohn

If you were to say, "Tennis, anyone?" in the vicinity of Alfie Kohn, he would not reply. If you`re thinking about challenging him to a footrace, save your breath. Kohn also would refrain from checkers, chess, arm-wrestling, "creative tension" in the workplace and comparative grading in the classroom. Kohn might even oppose Mom's apple pie if she entered it in the Pillsbury Bakeoff. Kohn hasn`t always been so reluctant to pit himself against others. As a lad growing up in Miami Beach, Alfie dominated the...

'How to study for success' by Book Builders LLC 'How to pass exams' by Fred Orr 'The homework myth: why our kids get too much of a bad thing' by Alfie Kohn 'The secrets of getting better grades: study smarter, not harder!' by Brian Marshall 'Scholars' secrets: how to get your A's' by George Tan 'Study skills for speakers of English as a second language' by Marilyn Lewis and Hayo Reinders.

Not to suggest that there is something irrational about the rules that guide society, but it seems that opposites attract in every field except ornithology-where everybody knows that birds of a feather flock together. Similarly, we should feel pity for he who hesitates because that person is surely lost-unless he is standing cliffside, in which case it is recommended that he look before he leaps. If, peering over the edge, he sees a landfill, the situation gets even more confusing: Haste...

Americans love to compete. If we have a national religion, it is probably our willingness to win. In business, politics, sports or expressway driving, many of us live to wind up ahead of the other guy. Our temples often are our top high schools, where the competition for a good class rank--and along with it a shot at an Ivy League-type school--can make Game 7 of the NBA Finals look like grammar-school dodgeball. At places such as New Trier, achievement and victory...

While reading Alfie Kohn's article (Op-Ed, July 10) about Newt Gingrich's suggestion that students ought to be paid a few bucks for each book they read, it occurred to me that Newt must be, at least, a little bit confused. As he very well knows, "writing" books is where the money is.

Congratulations to Charles Sykes and to the Tribune for the article on education ("The Attack on Excellence," Aug. 27.) The subject is a major issue facing and threatening this nation. I have been involved with medical education for more than 40 years, and I am appalled at the lack of non-medical knowledge exhibited by students. Lowering standards to permit the graduation of semiliterates, and failing to recognize the gifted can only lead to the mongrelization of education and inevitably of our...

'How to study for success' by Book Builders LLC 'How to pass exams' by Fred Orr 'The homework myth: why our kids get too much of a bad thing' by Alfie Kohn 'The secrets of getting better grades: study smarter, not harder!' by Brian Marshall 'Scholars' secrets: how to get your A's' by George Tan 'Study skills for speakers of English as a second language' by Marilyn Lewis and Hayo Reinders.

While reading Alfie Kohn's article (Op-Ed, July 10) about Newt Gingrich's suggestion that students ought to be paid a few bucks for each book they read, it occurred to me that Newt must be, at least, a little bit confused. As he very well knows, "writing" books is where the money is.

By William Raspberry, (copyright) 1993, Washington Post Writers Group | November 15, 1993

How's this for a thesis: Rewards-whether gold stars, bonuses or praise-don't produce better children, better workers or better citizens. Better to abandon such attempts at bribery and let virtue be its own reward. The giant sucking sound is my own startled gasp. I happened upon Alfie Kohn's latest book, "Punished by Reward," just as I was about to propose (what else?) a new set of rewards. Let me begin with Kohn's idea and then see if I still have the nerve to...

No more Mr. Nice Guy? Beneath all that yelling, it seems like Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight has a nice streak - but even that's bothering someone. The hot-tempered basketball coach recently announced a program meant to encourage kids to read. Called the Knightreader program, it rewards 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders in the Indianapolis area with posters, T-shirts, totes and caps if they read a certain number of books. What a deal, you say? Well, one education expert...

Americans love to compete. If we have a national religion, it is probably our willingness to win. In business, politics, sports or expressway driving, many of us live to wind up ahead of the other guy. Our temples often are our top high schools, where the competition for a good class rank--and along with it a shot at an Ivy League-type school--can make Game 7 of the NBA Finals look like grammar-school dodgeball. At places such as New Trier, achievement and victory...

By William Raspberry, (copyright) 1993, Washington Post Writers Group | November 15, 1993

How's this for a thesis: Rewards-whether gold stars, bonuses or praise-don't produce better children, better workers or better citizens. Better to abandon such attempts at bribery and let virtue be its own reward. The giant sucking sound is my own startled gasp. I happened upon Alfie Kohn's latest book, "Punished by Reward," just as I was about to propose (what else?) a new set of rewards. Let me begin with Kohn's idea and then see if I still have the nerve to...

No more Mr. Nice Guy? Beneath all that yelling, it seems like Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight has a nice streak - but even that's bothering someone. The hot-tempered basketball coach recently announced a program meant to encourage kids to read. Called the Knightreader program, it rewards 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders in the Indianapolis area with posters, T-shirts, totes and caps if they read a certain number of books. What a deal, you say? Well, one education expert...

Not to suggest that there is something irrational about the rules that guide society, but it seems that opposites attract in every field except ornithology-where everybody knows that birds of a feather flock together. Similarly, we should feel pity for he who hesitates because that person is surely lost-unless he is standing cliffside, in which case it is recommended that he look before he leaps. If, peering over the edge, he sees a landfill, the situation gets even more confusing: Haste...

Congratulations to Charles Sykes and to the Tribune for the article on education ("The Attack on Excellence," Aug. 27.) The subject is a major issue facing and threatening this nation. I have been involved with medical education for more than 40 years, and I am appalled at the lack of non-medical knowledge exhibited by students. Lowering standards to permit the graduation of semiliterates, and failing to recognize the gifted can only lead to the mongrelization of education and inevitably of our...

If you were to say, "Tennis, anyone?" in the vicinity of Alfie Kohn, he would not reply. If you`re thinking about challenging him to a footrace, save your breath. Kohn also would refrain from checkers, chess, arm-wrestling, "creative tension" in the workplace and comparative grading in the classroom. Kohn might even oppose Mom's apple pie if she entered it in the Pillsbury Bakeoff. Kohn hasn`t always been so reluctant to pit himself against others. As a lad growing up in Miami Beach, Alfie dominated the...

George Burns and Jack Benny were best friends for more than 50 years. In "Sunday Nights at Seven" (Warner), by Jack's daughter, Joan Benny, Burns insists that Benny, contrary to his widely known image, was not cheap. "That whole miser thing was a madeup gimmick to get laughs," Burns says. "The Benny I knew threw his money around. Not far, but he threw it." What wasn`t made up was that Benny was Burns` best audience. "He laughed at everything I said," Burns recalls....

THE END OF NATURE By Bill McKibben (Anchor Books $14) The 10th-anniversary edition of Bill McKibben's environmental treatise, reintroduced by the author. THE FISHERMAN'S SON By Michael Kepf (Broadway Books $13) In this luminous novel, a fisherman in a life raft finds sustenance in childhood memories. TIME By Clifford A. Pickover (Oxford University Press $15.95) The science of time is explored in this clever, accessible guide to how time travel could...